Director (and former cinematographer) Barry Sonnenfeld's hit adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel, "Get Shorty" stars John Travolta as Chili Palmer, a Miami loanshark who travels out to Los Angeles to collect a debt from famed B-movie director Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman). However, once movie fan Chili gets out to Hollywood, he decides he likes the business better than the business he's currently in.

Chili has a movie idea he wants to pitch, and both Harry and his girlfriend, B-movie star Karen Flores (Rene Russo) want in. Unfortunately, so do a lot of other people - including a few gangsters and a famous star (Danny Devito). Meanwhile, Chili's nemesis - gangster Ray "Bones" Barboni (Dennis Farina) is also headed out to Los Angeles to see what Chili's up to. Meanwhile, Chili's falling for Karen and a lot of people are starting to snoop around a bag of hot cash in a locker at the airport.

When I first saw "Get Shorty" in 1995, I didn't care for it. I thought the movie lacked a bit of a needed edge, and came off as a little smug. Over the years, I've warmed up to it, largely thanks to the performances. Travolta, fresh off of "Pulp Fiction", was once again at the top of his game as Chili Palmer, giving a cool, relaxed performance that's highly entertaining. Hackman is wonderful as the frazzled producer, Russo is great as his dame and Dennis Farina is funny as the irritable criminal after Chili.

Despite having such a wide variety of characters and subplots, Scott Frank's screenplay manages to keep everything organized, while also compressing the novel well. The picture looks great, too - production design is wonderful and just a bit funky, while Don Peterman's cinematography is glossy and gorgeous. The picture could use a little bit of editing here-and-there to pick up the pace, but overall, "Get Shorty" remains a fun and clever dig at Hollywood.